About K+M
- Based in
- Napa Valley, California
- Founded
- 2012
- Known for
- bean-to-bar chocolate made with extra virgin olive oil
K+M began as a conversation between Thomas Keller, the chef behind The French Laundry, and Armando Manni, who makes extra virgin olive oil in Tuscany. Manni worked with the University of Florence on a chocolate that uses his organic olive oil in place of cocoa butter, and the two founded the company in 2012.
Production runs out of a facility in Napa Valley, where chocolatier Chi Bui was brought in to oversee bean sourcing and production. Bui also helped develop the roasting and grinding machines in Italy. The bars launched in 2017, made with single-origin beans from Peru, Ecuador and Madagascar.
K+M questions
Why is there olive oil in K+M chocolate?
Chocolate normally contains cocoa butter, the natural fat of the cacao bean. K+M leaves it out and adds a small amount of Armando Manni's organic Tuscan extra virgin olive oil instead. Because olive oil is a liquid, the chocolate melts at a lower temperature and feels velvety on the tongue. The oil's grassy taste is barely noticeable, so the bars still taste of the cacao.
What does bean-to-bar mean at K+M?
Bean-to-bar means one company controls the whole process, from sourcing cacao beans to the finished chocolate. At K+M, chocolatier Chi Bui oversees bean sourcing and production in Napa Valley and helped develop the roasting and grinding machines, made in Italy, that turn beans into chocolate. The beans are single-origin, meaning each batch comes from one country, such as Peru, Ecuador or Madagascar.
